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Thoughts on sellers passing on paypal fees?

hhmoore said:
Say I charge a flat rate of $50, and include it in my price - If I'm shipping across the country, the cost could easily be $25-30 more. My experience seems to be that THAT scenario is more likely than one in which I ship to a neighboring state, and the cost is $20 less.
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:iagree:
Plenty of times shipping charges were $60-75 for me to send out, almost all my sales have been across the country. Granted, I also use a bit larger box, but I prefer the deli cup to be to one side, heat pack up top on the other creating a mini temp gradient as opposed to a deli cup that squeezes into a box with heat pack right above it. (maybe I overthink this.. lol).

Sellers should eat the 3% fee, it's part of the cost of doing business and for the convience of instant payment. I will pay via paypal and use the 'money owed' function to save them the fee but I've only had one person actually request me to do it that way.

What about having to pay a box fee? Proper shipping boxes can be a bit pricey but the seller is the one offering to ship.. I could see both sides to this argument. (I don't notice people charging box fees often, mainly for frozen feeders, but thought it would be along the same lines)
 
If I truly feel I got an awesome deal on an animal I will often times cover the PP fees without telling the seller and just include it in my payment. It does however leave a sour taste in my mouth when a seller asks for me to cover the fees.
 
I personally think the mere thought of a Xtra when buying say a larger priced animal to some seems like a Xtra slap in the Wallet no matter how trivial of a cost(3%)
I personally when lookin at say a 1000 dollar Genetic stripe think its absurd! to say Hey im selling this animal for a grand but I also am so broke I need a xtra 3%x1000=$30.00
I personally will not buy from someone who has that in their ads(No disrespect to those who do let me Stress that I dont want any biggy here upset)
 
Can you imagine if Wal*Mart starting charging a 3% fee on all CC transactions. Even bargain basement retail stores figure the costs of business into their prices. You would think that would be a little easier on a 5K python that a $.50 candy bar.....:rofl:
 
It matters to me.... If I was the buyer and called the seller and he only listed he/she would take so and so payment and I pushed for paypal then I would not mind.

Now on the flip side if they posted paypal as one of the payment options then I should not pay. If they push for paypal I should not pay.

For the ones that think you get your money right away with a credit card that is not the case either. I have to wait 2 to 3 days if a person pays with credit card through my merchant account.

Now I also say this a lot. If a person come to my table and makes me an offer on an animal 99% of the time i say cash only. I will not give a great deal then have them pay with a card. I then turn and pay another 3% on it and have to wait for my money....

Cash talks always!
 
I only take 2 forms of payment online paypal and USPS money order with paypal being the preferred method. The 3% doesn't bother me and it is nice to know if something goes wrong in shipping etc, Their refund is one mouse click away. I don't have to run to the post office to buy another money oder and pay to have it sent out with a signature confirmation, etc....

Also if someone says they are sending payment and don't, I'm not sitting around for a week waiting for something that's not coming. And we all know how many times someone is going to pay first thing tomorrow and then you never hear from them again.
 
Guess I should add my input as a buyer as well....

Requiring someone to pay an extra 3% in paypal fees is a little bit of a turn off if you will. If your not willing to eat the 3% then don't take paypal. I typically don't look very hard at an add that has that written in on the payment options. But in reality the looks of the animal always come first and I will pretty much jump through hoops for a nice specimen of a given morph.

Now I have bought from 1 person that wanted the fees paid, funny thing was he came down 20% from his asking price but still was pretty anal about not wanting to pay the fees..... Now that made no sense. :shrug01:
 
garweft said:
Now I have bought from 1 person that wanted the fees paid, funny thing was he came down 20% from his asking price but still was pretty anal about not wanting to pay the fees..... Now that made no sense. :shrug01:
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That used to be my method of dealing with the situation - if they said I'd have to add 3% to pay via PayPal, I'd offer them a lower price (if the comment comes after an offer is accepted, it kills the sale). This isn't advanced math, but people really don't seem to get it.
 
I think adding the fees is ridiculous, but I think having the person send as a "Gift" isn't a big deal. I personally send my payments through Paypal as a gift because even though it's only 3% I'm sure the seller appreciates not having to pay that. I would only send as a Gift to someone trustworthy though, since the gift option isn't AS safe for the buyer.
 
Abby said:
I think adding the fees is ridiculous, but I think having the person send as a "Gift" isn't a big deal. I personally send my payments through Paypal as a gift because even though it's only 3% I'm sure the seller appreciates not having to pay that. I would only send as a Gift to someone trustworthy though, since the gift option isn't AS safe for the buyer.
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But when a payment for an animal is sent as a "gift," isn't that dishonest, too? I mean why use PayPal in the first place if the fees are such a problem that it will drive people to such extremes to avoid it? Why not simply deal with checks?:shrug01:
 
deborahbroadus said:
But when a payment for an animal is sent as a "gift," isn't that dishonest, too? I mean why use PayPal in the first place if the fees are such a problem that it will drive people to such extremes to avoid it? Why not simply deal with checks?:shrug01:
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Good point, but I personally can't write checks. Well, I could I suppose... But I haven't taken the time to get any. You could say Paypal is dishonest as well though, considering they offer little to no protection to their users and claim to be "Safe and easy". How many times have we all heard of people getting screwed by them? True, nobody is twisting our arms to use Paypal... But if they didn't want people using the Gift option, it wouldn't be there.
 
Abby said:
Good point, but I personally can't write checks. Well, I could I suppose... But I haven't taken the time to get any. You could say Paypal is dishonest as well though, considering they offer little to no protection to their users and claim to be "Safe and easy". How many times have we all heard of people getting screwed by them? True, nobody is twisting our arms to use Paypal... But if they didn't want people using the Gift option, it wouldn't be there.
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I just want it out there: My opinions are my own. I am really talking in theory here...I just have a habit of talking in absolutes..comes with the career that I have.:eek:

Playing devil's advocate here::reddevil:

I understand what you are saying Abby...I want to stop paying my mortgage because the numbskulls are ripping me off. I also think I should be able to shoplift if I want because the stores charge too much...ummmmm

In PayPal's case, I believe that they put the separate options there for specific purposes. In other words, they want people using the options for the transactions that they were meant to be used. :shrug01: But I do understand which wall you are bouncing off....in the same way, if I walk into a store, and I see that the candy is right near the door, I should be able to steal it, right? After all, if they didn't want thievery, they shouldn't give shoplifters the option to have a quick get-away, by having the candy near the door...:yesnod::dgrin:
 
deborahbroadus said:
I just want it out there: My opinions are my own. I am really talking in theory here...I just have a habit of talking in absolutes..comes with the career that I have.:eek:

Playing devil's advocate here::reddevil:

I understand what you are saying Abby...I want to stop paying my mortgage because the numbskulls are ripping me off. I also think I should be able to shoplift if I want because the stores charge too much...ummmmm

In PayPal's case, I believe that they put the separate options there for specific purposes. In other words, they want people using the options for the transactions that they were meant to be used. :shrug01: But I do understand which wall you are bouncing off....in the same way, if I walk into a store, and I see that the candy is right near the door, I should be able to steal it, right? After all, if they didn't want thievery, they shouldn't give shoplifters the option to have a quick get-away, by having the candy near the door...:yesnod::dgrin:
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I can also see where you're coming from Deb :) As you said, we all have opinions! I'm not saying the Gift option is flawless... But I don't think it's stealing either. I won't ask someone to send via Gift, but if they want to, that's their game! I've had folks offer it before. I think it is the lesser evil of the two (the other being outright charging the 3%). After all, it isn't against Paypal's TOS to use the Gift as you see fit ;) At least I don't think so. I haven't actually read it myself.
 
To me charging less for cash is the same as charging the fee for Paypal. Sometimes you'll find a Mom & Pop gas station that will have a sign on their pumps "3% less for cash". Or maybe they'll just have a stated cash price/credit price, it amounts to the same thing. They are in essence charging 3% for credit cards.

Obviously the cost of doing business is important to both the buyer and the seller. Even if the seller offered free shipping it has to be considered in the negotiations, or the offered price, somehow. The buyer typically is picking up all the fees, within the cost of the product, or as an added charge.

To overtly charge a fee for paypal is not only against their TOS but a dumb business practice because it only aggravates the buyer. I also would not do business with someone that attempted to circumvent an agreement that they have signed buy calling it a "gift".
 
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Just to point out something that I don't think was noticed...

Sending payments as a "Gift" not only means you're lying, but it means you have no payment protections. If you seller doesn't send you the item/animal, you're SOL because you lied about the purpose of the exchange of funds. Food for thought.
 
I think adding the fees is ridiculous, but I think having the person send as a "Gift" isn't a big deal. I personally send my payments through Paypal as a gift because even though it's only 3% I'm sure the seller appreciates not having to pay that. I would only send as a Gift to someone trustworthy though, since the gift option isn't AS safe for the buyer.
Click to expand...

This bugs me! Paypal is a business as well and one that has offered a fantastic service to vendors/buyers. Why is it okay to rip them off? Bottom line if you choose as a seller to accept Paypal payments you should be willing to pay the fees, it's just another cost of running a business.
 
If I see someone charging paypal fees, I take the time to let them know that it is against PayPal's TOS, and PayPal will shut down their account if they find out about it. Most people who charge those fees actually don't KNOW that it's against PayPal's TOS. I can't imagine anyone deliberately breaking their TOS for a few bucks.
 
A lot of times, I will try to sell my animals fee and shipping included. Its a lot harder to do when the animals that you are moving are at a lower price point though.
 
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